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Of all the so-called barbarians the 
Romans did battle with over the centuries,

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none have made as lasting an impact on the 
history of Europe as the Germanic peoples.

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They terrorized the Empire for centuries, 
before conquering its Western half in 476AD,

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arguably ending the era of Antiquity, and 
ushering in the middle ages. In this video,

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we will shine the spotlight on them, exploring 
their culture and society, while telling the

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history of the earliest origins of the Ancient 
Germanic peoples, the greatest enemy of Rome.

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Shoutout to Netflix and its new historical TV 
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Barbarians is a brand-new TV series set in the 
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of Teutoburg forest in which the legions of the 
Roman empire led by Publius Quinctilius Varus

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are ambushed by the alliance of the Germanic 
tribes led by the former Roman auxilia Arminius.

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So, who were the ancient Germanic peoples? 
In short, they were a collection of iron-age

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tribes that lived in the rugged forests west 
and north of the Rhine and Danube rivers

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during mid to late antiquity, best known for 
their long and complicated relationship with

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the Roman Empire, with whom they traded, 
integrated with, and most importantly, made

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war on. Broadly speaking, they are ancestrally 
related to many peoples in Europe today,

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including the Dutch, Swiss, Austrians, Flemish, 
Swedes, Norwegians, Danes and of course,

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the modern Germans - all of whom are 
speakers of modern Germanic dialects.

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In 98AD, the historian Tacitus completed a 
book titled De Origine et situ Germanorum,

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more commonly known as Germania, a Roman 
survey of the history and culture of their

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Germanic foes. This tome provides us with the 
most valuable window into Germanic culture,

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and will be referred to throughout this video. 
Let us begin with a quote: “Undivided Germany

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is separated from the Gauls, Rhaetians and 
Pannonians by the rivers Rhine and Danube,

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from the Sarmatians and Dacians by mutual fear 
of mountains, and the rest of it is surrounded

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by ocean. As for the Germans themselves, I should 
suppose them to be native to the area … who would

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have left Asia or Africa or Italy to look for 
Germany? With its wild scenery and harsh climate,

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it is pleasant neither to live in nor 
look upon unless it be ones' home.”

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As condescending as his account is, Tacitus 
was not entirely incorrect. By his time,

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the various Germanic tribes had been living in 
their traditional territories for at least a

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millenia or two. However, their true origins are a 
little more complex than the chronicler suggests,

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and the key to understanding it lies in 
linguistics. The Germanic languages are

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part of the Indo-European linguistic 
family, and therefore share a common

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ancestor with almost all the languages of 
Europe, Northern India and Western Asia.

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As of now, the leading is the Kurgan Hypothesis, 
which postulates that the Proto-Indo-European

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language was spoken by a nomadic Europid people 
who inhabited the Pontic Steppe from at least

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the 6th millennium BC. Known titularly as the 
Kurgan People, or alternatively the Yamnaya,

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they were hardy seasonal livestock herders, 
and were probably among the first humans to

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domesticate the wild horse- first as 
food, and later, as transportation.

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Around the 4th millennium BC, these pastoralists 
are said to have utilized the advantage given to

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them by their four-legged friends to expand out of 
their steppe homeland, and across a huge swathe of

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the Eurasian landmass, displacing or intermixing 
with the indigenous peoples already living there.

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Over many centuries, the Proto-Indo-European 
tongue spoken by these various branches of

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Yamnaya migrants gave rise to the early versions 
of Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, and of course, German.

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Proto-Germanic languages and cultures were 
said to have emerged as a distinct branch of

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Indo-European during the bronze age, contained 
to the northern coast of modern Germany,

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the Jutland peninsula, and 
the southern tip of Sweden.

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In the late iron-age, they expanded 
from the Rhine to the Vistula rivers,

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bordering the Celtic peoples to the west, and 
the Scytho-Sarmatian horse lords to the east.

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Early Germanic society was predominantly rural. 
Unlike their Proto-Indo-European ancestors, they

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mostly lived sedentary lives in small to mid sized 
villages. The economy of these villages revolved

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mainly around the rearing of goats, sheep and 
cattle, and the cultivation of grain. Ample lush

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wilderness meant that hunting and foraging played 
a significant role in their lifestyle as well.

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They were never a single nation, and instead a 
spectrum of many independent tribes with similar

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but differing cultures and languages. Among 
these were larger confederations, like the Suebi,

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Marcomanni, and Alemanni, and the political 
map of ancient Germania was ever-shifting

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as independent factions splintered out of 
larger tribes, larger tribes swallowed up

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smaller tribes, and loosely organized 
alliances came together and fell apart.

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As one can imagine, these factions 
were all highly martial in nature.

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Tacitus claimed that while Kingship in 
Germania was determined by bloodline,

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it was the subordinate war-leaders, 
who were the real power in their tribe.

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In turn, the war-leaders only remained in power 
as long they could continue to deliver victories

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for their people, and were promptly ousted 
if they showed cowardice or incompetence.

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Let us now expand upon what this 
warrior culture looked like.

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Unlike the chariot-riders of Gaul to their west, 
and the mounted archers of Sarmatia to the east,

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the Ancient Germanic peoples possessed little 
to no cavalry, as horses were a symbol of luxury

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reserved for Kings and nobles. As such, Germanic 
armies were made predominantly of infantry.

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Quality metal was a luxury, so iron panoply 
was reserved for tribal leaders and their

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inner circle. The common warrior was usually 
clad only in linen or leather, and naked

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from the waist up. They wielded javelins, 
lances and short spears called “frameae”,

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which required comparatively less iron to forge. 
They protected themselves with long, oval or

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rectangular shields in which was embedded a hard 
iron shield-boss, which could be used to bash

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the enemy to deal blunt-force damage. However, 
what the Germanic peoples lacked in equipment,

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they made up with ferocious and fearless fighting. 
Tacitus’ remarked on their stigma of spinelessness

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with grim commentary: “traitors 
and deserters are hung from trees.

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Cowards and poor fighters are plunged in the mud 
of the marshes with a hurdle over their heads.”

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Despite the bellicose nature of the Germanic 
peoples, there were avenues for non-violent

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diplomacy among them. The most prominent 
of these were great inter-tribal gatherings

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known as hustings, or simply as the “thing”. 
According to Tacitus, these assemblies would

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take place only when the moon was neither new 
nor full. The summoned tribes would arrive

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and once there, they would take their seats while 
girded with their weapons. Kings and Chiefs would

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speak one by one, in order of importance 
based on age, birthright and battles won.

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As the leaders made various proposals, the crowd 
would groan loudly if they disapproved, and clash

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their spears enthusiastically if they approved. 
It was through gatherings like these that issues

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of land rights and resource distribution were 
settled, and political alliances were created

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among tribes. Tacitus also mentions the role 
of priests during these gatherings, who acted

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as powerful mediators between tribes, with the 
authority to “force obedience” to keep the peace.

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Let us use this as a segway to discuss the nature 
and role of religion in early Germanic society.

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By far the best known variant of Germanic 
Paganism lies in the mythology of the Viking age,

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which was adhered to by the Norsemen in the early 
medieval era even as the rest of their Germanic

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cousins eventually adopted Latin Christianity. 
However, we should not assume that Norse Paganism

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was the exact same as the rites practiced by 
their ancestral relatives of antiquity, after all,

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they were separated by over 700 years. With that 
said, anyone familiar with the Viking Pantheon

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would certainly find some familiar faces among 
the Gods of the Suebi, Alemanni, and Marcomanni.

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On the subject of Germanic faith, Tacitus 
had this to say: “Of the Gods, they worship

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Mercury the most, to whom on certain days they 
count even the sacrifice of human life lawful.

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Hercules and Mars they appease with animal life as 
is permissible.” The deities the Roman historian

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mentions are distinctly Olympian in nature, 
but Tacitus was actually drawing parallels

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between native Germanic Gods, and the Greco-Roman 
Pantheon. “Mercury” in this case was Wodanaz- an

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early form of Odin, thus associated as both 
he and Mercury were messengers for the gods,

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and guides between the mortal world and the 
afterlife. “Hercules” was probably Donar, who

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like the ancient Greek hero was a great warrior, 
adventurer and beast slayer. His mighty hammer

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was associated with Hercules’ club. As one might 
have guessed, Donar was an early form of Thor.

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Meanwhile, “Mars” was equated to Tyr. A 
minor deity by the time of the Viking age,

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but a highly important patron of 
war and wisdom during antiquity.

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Although Tacitus compared him to the Roman 
God of war, he was most likely derived from

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the Proto-Indo-European Dieus, the same God from 
which the Greek Zeus and Roman Jupiter evolved

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from. So while it is easy to dismiss Tacitus’ 
rebranding of Germanic Gods into Roman ones,

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they were actually more interconnected than 
most realize. Not referenced by Tacitus,

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but found in the archeological records are other 
aspects of Germanic mythology, including the

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proto-versions of the goddess of love, beauty, 
fertility Freyja and Yggdrasil, the world tree.

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We know very little about how the Germanic 
peoples carried out their religious rites,

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but according to Tacitus, human sacrifice appears 
to have been practiced. Ancient bodies found in

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the bogs of Northern Germany show evidence of 
ritual slaughter. Tacitus also claimed that

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Germanic priests read divinations based on 
the flight patterns of birds, the casting of

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runes written on tree bark, and the behaviour of 
sacred white horses, “never soiled by mortal use”.

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Meanwhile, two golden horns found in Southern 
Denmark, feature engravings of dancing warriors

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adorned in horned helmets. This likely depicts 
some form of a seasonal cycle, where ceremonies

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were held according to the transition 
between spring, summer, autumn and winter.

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It is here that we will delve into the Germanic 
peoples’ interactions with the Roman world,

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a multi-layered, centuries long relationship that 
would, in time, come to define the fate of both

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cultures. For centuries, it was the Celtic peoples 
that stood as a buffer between Germania and Rome,

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but by the late 2nd century BC, the long struggle 
between the Gallic Tribes and the growing Republic

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had begun to turn to the latter’s favour.

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By 118BC, the Romans had managed to subdue 
a portion of Southern Gaul into the province

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of Gallia Narbonensis, and made the Celtic 
federation of Noricum into their client state.

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As the Latins creeped north, so too did the 
Germans begin marching south. Around 120BC,

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either crippling floods or freezing in the 
southern Jutland peninsula compelled the Cimbri

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and Teutones tribes to begin a mass migration, 
sending 200,000 warriors along with their families

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barrelling into Noricum. Thus, the Roman and 
Germanic worlds met for the first time, and

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was almost immediately defined by bloodshed. We 
have covered the Cimbrian war in a previous video,

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so we won't go into detail here. In summary, 
the Romans were able to win a pyrrhic victory,

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at the cost of tens of thousands of lives, and a 
wakeup call to the true ferocity of their new foe.

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The next major clash between these two 
civilizations began sometime in the 60sBC,

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when one King Ariovistus of the Suebi crossed 
into eastern Gaul with an army of 15,000 warriors.

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Originally there to help the Celtic 
Sequani tribe fight their Aedui rivals,

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the Suebian leader became enamoured with the 
fertile lands he had arrived in, turning on his

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Gallic allies and seizing their realm for himself. 
Meanwhile, Roman governor Gaius Julius Caesar

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was at the height of his ambition. Hot off the 
tails of subduing the migrating Helvetii tribe,

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he turned his attention to Ariovistus. 
While the Germanic King was originally

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labeled a friend of Rome, both he and Caesar 
lusted for the spoils of war and in 58BC,

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they clashed at the Battle of Vosges in a struggle 
for dominance over Eastern Gaul. Caesar won a

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decisive victory and continued the conquest of 
Gaul culminating at the Siege of Alesia in 52BC.

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With this, the Roman border was 
moved right up to the Rhine river.

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All of a sudden, the tribes of Germania looked 
westward and saw not a squabbling Gallic tribes,

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but the strongest army in the ancient world, 
professional and unyielding. The death of the

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Republic and birth of the Principate coincided 
with a new era in Roman-Germanic relations.

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When the first Emperor Augustus came to power, he 
extended Rome’s territory up to the Danube river.

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Thus, a direct frontier between Rome and Germania 
was established along the key rivers of the Rhine

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and Danube, a frontier that would remain 
more or less deadlocked for the centuries.

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In the following years, back and forth struggle 
continued. In 16BC, the Emperors’ stepsons

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Tiberius and Drusus launched an invasion into the 
Alps east of the Rhine, subduing many tribes. The

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Germanic peoples never gave up an inch of land 
without a fight, and that same year, the Tencteri,

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Usipetes and Sugambri inflicted a crushing defeat 
upon the Fifth Legion “Gallia” on the banks of the

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lower Rhine. Tiberius pushed back, and according 
to Roman sources, had managed to subdue the whole

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of Germania into an obedient province by 6BC. 
This would last a grand total of 15 years,

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before the Cherusci prince Arminius pulled off 
a devastating ambush on three Roman Legions led

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by Publius Quinctillus Varus at Teutoburg Forest 
in 9AD. So absolutely crushing was this defeat,

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that many historians consider it the worst 
military disaster in Roman history. Following

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this, Rome retreated from Germania, and gave 
up on ever trying to directly rule the region.

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The reason Arminius was able to defeat the Empire 
was in part due to his background. Born as the son

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of a Germanic Chieftain, he had been sent to Rome 
as a hostage and served in the Imperial military,

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learning all there was to know about 
Roman tactics and military doctrine.

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While Arminius would eventually return to his 
roots and become Rome’s principal nightmare,

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he was one of many Germanic peoples who had 
spent their life cooperating with the Empire.

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His life was a testament to the fact that as much 
as the Romano-Germanic story was defined by war,

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so too was it defined by diplomacy, 
trade, and cultural integration.

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The principal means by which Rome maintained 
diplomacy with their war-like neighbours

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was a policy of divide and control. As we covered 
earlier, the Germanic peoples were locked in

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inter-tribal struggles and as a result, 
the Romans were often able to use hostages,

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bribes and alliances with specific tribes to keep 
the spears of Germania pointed at each other,

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rather than at Rome. Many Germanic peoples soon 
realized that doing business with Rome was far

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more profitable than making war on them. Between 
the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, trade between the

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two cultures boomed, concentrated at border 
forts along the Rhine and Danube frontier.

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Thousands upon thousands of Roman artifacts 
have been found across Germany Denmark,

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Sweden and Eastern Europe, including 
Campanian pottery, bronze vessels,

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and dining ware of silver and glass. In turn, the 
ancient Germans dealt in animal hides and furs,

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but their most valuable products lay in amber 
and slaves - usually captives from rival tribes.

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For decades, relative stability prevailed 
along the Rhine and Danube frontiers,

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and although both Rome and the Germanic 
peoples would occasionally challenge one

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00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:33,040
another, no major wars were fought 
between them. This changed in 166AD,

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when a massive confederation of tribes, led 
by the Marcomanni attempted a mass southwards

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migration into the Roman Empire. Naturally, 
Emperor Marcus Aurelius could not allow this,

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and as a result, spent 14 years fighting in the 
brutal slugfest that was the Marcomannic wars.

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Once more, Rome prevailed, but there was something 
they had not considered: what could have prompted

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such a massive confederation of people to 
uproot themselves to leave their homeland in

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the first place? Today, most historians 
agree that they were being pushed out,

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assailed from the east by a mysterious foe 
they feared more than they feared Rome.

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Indeed, as the 2nd century transitioned into 
the third, new confederations were forming in

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the heartland of Germania. Stronger, larger, 
and fiercer than any who had come before them.

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They would set in motion the next chapter in the 
struggle between the Roman and Germanic worlds,

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bringing the Empire to its knees, and reshaping 
the entire history of Europe in the process.

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Join us next time, as we continue our 
history of the Ancient Germanic peoples

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by covering the rise of the great conquerors: 
the Goths, and the Franks. Make sure you are

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subscribed to our channel and have pressed the 
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and much more. This is the Kings and Generals 
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